Now I can't get all of the TV 11-12 topic to load! And I think Botticelli is in trouble, too.

A couple of disappointing new shows. A Person of Interest has a good premise, stolen from Minority Report, but poor execution. What could have been a good puzzler is just another action show. And Prime Suspect has none of the intensity or intelligence of the original. It belongs on USA with all the other cop chick shows.

But tonight's A Gifted Man was so well done that I wish I liked it more. The dialogue, the pacing, and especially the direction were all spot on. It's just that my willing suspension of disbelief always becomes less willing when it's up against a ghost story. It's easy to see where the series is going; the ghost of the doctor's ex-wife is going to act as his conscience and make him a better man. Well, I wish 'em luck, even though I probably won't be watching. I did like the doctor's episode-long resistance to being haunted instead of accepting the situation in the first five minutes and plunging into a story, with ghost firmly settled in. There's much to recommend this show.

I didn't expect much of Prime Suspect. The original is a hard act to follow. I was hoping for more from A Person of Interest, but got less. I missed the ghost story entirely...I didn't even know it was on!

I can't get the other topic to load either, but there was a post there (Rita?) about Survivor. I'm watching it too...I just didn't want to be the first one to admit it.

The first Survivor episode was puzzling because it didn't make clear who was the player we're given to hate. But the second episode took care of that. Coach said he'd probably make the same mistakes he made before, believing people and trusting them only to find them stabbing him in the back. If creepy Hantz can come up with a convincing repentence act, Coach will probably forgive him. It's going to be a test of Coach's gullibility.

Did anyone watch Unforgettable? I almost skipped it because I'm not a Poppy Montgomery fan, but it was pretty good. Another chick cop show, though.

New TAR last night, and those showgirls are lucky, lucky, lucky. The older couple are goners. It took them four hours to spot the sign in the square, and they have a speed bump to slow them down even more in the next leg. The wife annoys me no end, I don't know why.

I know why she annoys ME. She talks in social clichés, the sort of things hostessy women say to smoothe over awkward moments. And she says them with such poised confidence, as if she were on top of the situation instead of coming in dead last. The husband just stands there with a silly grin on his face and lets her do all the talking -- not exactly a pairing of winners. Those two will never catch up.

Survivor: Now we know how to get on Coach's good side. Confess some dirty secret to him and then ask him not to tell anyone. He won't see that as manipulation, for him it's all about LOYALTY. Even when Brandon fessed up to the rest of the tribe, Coach stayed LOYAL. The guy's an idiot.

I actually feel sorry for Brandon. I think he is sincere in wanting to "do right", but I also think he is really naive about it, a fairly recent convert to it, and far too caught up in whatever his "bad/wild life" had been before. He's rather young, and I put it down to living wild, and possibly getting his girlfriend pregnant and suddenly getting responsible about his life. His antipathy to Mikayla seems almost entirely grounded on the fact that he does find her attractive, and so while "trying to be good" has to shove her away. Most people go through this stage in privacy, but he's doing it on national TV.

I don't think Ozzy will make it all the way. He's not really very good at observing true strengths, nor in planning his strategy. And he has a "too cool for the room" attitude. I suspect he thinks he can do what Rob did, but Rob moved decisively against those who could endanger his position, and I don't think Ozzy can do that (mainly because he doesn't know who can endanger his position). Plus he's made the mistake of telling someone he has the idol. Rob never made that mistake.

I don't think these are the strongest players we've seen (in terms of the social game), but they seem more on the ball than some recent games.

OTHER SHOWS....

I had the pilot for Charlie's Angels on while I was working on the computer, and so listened to it. Cripes, rather wooden acting. Not very smooth delivery of lines, so the whole of any emotional draw just sank like stones. To go from that to the season premiere of Castle was stronger than a day/night contrast.

Sunday night has turned out to be quite busy. I watched three straight hours last night -- TAR, The Good Wife, Dexter. And I recorded the new Inspector Lewis mystery and Homeland to watch some other time, although I doubt I'll stick with the latter. Anyone watching Homeland?